


Life, As It Happens

by kianspo



Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies)
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Charles Xavier has a Ph.D in Adorable, First Time, Logan Needs A Hug, M/M, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-20
Updated: 2020-02-20
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:49:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,183
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22816519
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kianspo/pseuds/kianspo
Summary: When Charles first meets Logan he's scared of him. He's not proud of that. But Logan needs help with Laura, and there is no shorter way to Charles's heart.
Relationships: Logan (X-Men)/Charles Xavier
Comments: 33
Kudos: 257
Collections: X-Men Rare Pairs 2020





	Life, As It Happens

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Akasanata](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akasanata/gifts).
  * In response to a prompt by [Akasanata](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akasanata/pseuds/Akasanata) in the [xmenrarepairs20](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/xmenrarepairs20) collection. 



> **Prompt:**
> 
> Charles and Logan taking care of Laura, doesn't matter if it's canon universe or au as long as it has happy ending
> 
> This is less Charles and Logan taking care of Laura, and more a slice of life, but hopefully you'll enjoy.

~

“My dad is a coward.”

Charles blinked and looked up from where he was desperately trying to get some last-minute grading done. It was Laura, of course, in all her eight-year-old torn-shirt scratched-knees glory. Of all the kids he had ever agreed to babysit as a means to make some cash while struggling through grad school, she was by far the most outspoken. Not that she spoke much. In fact, her father, who wasn’t exactly a chatterbox himself, had been close to despair when he dumped her in Charles's lap two years ago, distraught because ‘the kid wouldn’t say a word.’

Laura had said quite a number of words since, to the point where Charles would sometimes wish she was a little less gleeful when bluntly stating what was on everyone’s mind. But not really, though. After whatever horrors her biological parents had put her through, she was finally starting to come out of her shell, and he wouldn’t change that for the world.

Her father was making progress, too, Charles thought with a smile. He still flushed with embarrassment remembering their first encounter. Charles was coming home late from the library, stacks of papers that needed grading still in his arms. He was pondering another sleepless night ahead of him and calculating how long he could make his paycheck last, when a stocky dark figure stepped up in front of him. 

Charles yelped.

Later, much, much later, he would remind himself that he lived in a really dingy part of town. That he’d been mugged twice, one time at gunpoint. That the last time a dark figure crossed his path, he ended up with a mild concussion. He would remind himself, in short, that his reaction was entirely justified.

In the moment, however, he felt instantly ashamed when the man threw his hands up to indicate his good intentions. In the meager light of a streetlamp, he didn’t look particularly reassuring. In fact, with the scars clearly visible on his arms and above his brow, a square set jaw, and enough muscles to be able to lift train cars, he looked exactly like the kind of man Charles, being skinny, short, nineteen and all alone, ought to be afraid of on instinct.

“Easy, easy… I’m not going to hurt you. It’s my little girl. I heard you do this kind of… I need some help.”

There was no way Charles wouldn’t go with him after such magic words.

All the same, long after Logan and Laura had become a more than welcome fixtures in his life, he still felt ashamed about his reaction that night or the way he kept glancing at Logan every few seconds as he tried to bring Laura out of her panic attack, expecting an assault. He hated himself for judging the book by its cover.

Logan seemed to take it in stride, being used to people treating him that way. Later, when they got to know each other, Charles wanted to apologize countless times, but didn’t want to make the matters worse. He was no longer afraid that Logan would hit him, but he didn’t want to offend.

“I can pay you,” Logan said later that night, when Laura was safely asleep in Charles's bed. “I have my own auto shop; I make good money.”

Charles looked at him, not tired enough to stop being afraid, but enough to say, “If you have funds for it, you should take her to see a specialist. A doctor. I’ve only just started grad school. She needs an expert—”

“I can’t,” Logan snapped, his hands clenching into fists.

Charles watched them, swallowed, and said nothing.

He didn’t find out until a few weeks later what the problem was, being used by that point to Laura’s company. Logan was an ex-con who bribed people to have Laura adopted. He was quite allergic to official attention of any kind. Someone around the block told him that Charles was really good with troubled kids, and that was that.

Charles never asked what Logan was in for. The man was twice his senior and looked older still. His face was clearly unaccustomed to smiling, and his arms looked like he could make a living juggling the cars he was paid to repair. He was quiet in an aggressive sort of way, scathingly sarcastic when the mood struck him, and closed up like a clam at so much as a hint of a personal question.

He was also obsessed with taking care of Laura. He let Charles school him without a word on how to handle her panic attacks. He took notes. When Charles suggested a list of activities that might bring her out of her shell a bit, Logan made a list and went about meticulously completing it like a man on a mission. Then he came back for more. When Charles suggested that the school teachers might be of more help if Logan explained things to them instead of just glowering, Logan turned on the charm with such ease as if he was only waiting to be told. The teachers ended up falling over themselves to help Laura, hinting with a decided lack of subtlety that they wouldn’t say no to a date. Logan spent every moment he could with his daughter, and Charles felt something in him melt at the sight of that.

He was helping out with Laura for a year, when he realized that he had long stopped watching her father to make sure he wasn’t a threat to either of them and started watching him because—well, because. A crush, Charles told himself, blushing. Just a harmless crush.

How could he not have developed one? The man was the most devoted parent Charles had ever seen, and that alone was enough, but it wasn’t just that. It was the way Logan treated Charles—like Charles was someone to be respected, listened to, and not at all like he was just spoiled screwed up kid kicked out of his house. 

Logan’s affection for Laura was so huge and all-encompassing that it pulled Charles in with frightening ease. Soon enough, Logan began teasing him, making fun of him in a way that didn’t make Charles feel inferior, but instead made him flush with attention. What was more, Logan began taking a genuine interest, questioning Charles about his studies, his work, his circumstances. Under the excuse that Laura stayed over so often, Logan had taken to restocking Charles's kitchen with groceries, despite Charles's protests. When Charles had to work late, Logan would sometimes unexpectedly turn up to give him a lift home. When Charles's boyfriend turned out to be an asshole and hit him, Logan stole his car and drove it off a bridge. Then he found him and soberly went about breaking his nose.

Charles was in turns terrified and angry to the point of yelling. Anger had won. He only stopped when he realized that Logan was grinning at him. Then he realized that the worst he threw at him was: _‘He could have charged you with assault and theft if he recognized you! You could have gone back to jail!’_

It didn’t help when Laura piped up to say: _‘I wanted to hit him in the balls, but Daddy said I wasn’t tall enough yet. Do you think I’ll be tall enough next year, Charles?’_

Charles gave up but not before he yelled some more at both of them. For two people who weren’t related by blood, they looked at him with remarkably similar expressions usually worn by people who were completely unrepentant but would humor you anyway.

And since then there was no turning back for Charles really. Hating himself for his utter lack of professionalism, he spent hours on end fantasizing about Logan’s arms, about running his fingers down Logan’s broad chest, about tasting his ripped stomach. Logan, whose fashion sense seemed to consist entirely of low-slung jeans, too-tight shirts, and leather jackets didn’t help one bit. More than once over the last year, Charles had caught himself staring at the man, wanting to learn what hid behind his damnable silences, wishing to sooth the worry lines on his forehead with his fingers.

It hit him out of nowhere one bright spring day as he was running from one lecture hall to another and stopped to tie his shoe. That he had long begun to think of Laura as a younger sister or niece he was responsible for was no surprise. What struck him motionless for a few long moments was a different beast entirely.

He was in love with Logan.

He spent a few torturous weeks after that, fending off questions from both Laura and Logan about ‘acting weird’, as he came to terms with it. Fortunately then, he was rescued by the thought that, in point of fact, nothing had to change. He had to watch himself more carefully now, that was all. His fantasies needed never become anyone’s business but his own.

Both Laura and Logan relaxed, as Charles adjusted. Just in time, too, to dive head-first into his thesis. These days when he picked Laura up from her school, it wasn’t clear anymore who was babysitting whom, as she was the one who reminded Charles to eat more often than not. If she didn’t drag him to the park every now and then, he would have missed the phenomenon of the sun still doing its job up in the sky entirely.

Coming back from his stroll down the memory lane, he looked up at the clearly upset girl in front of him. Except, Laura didn’t really do upset. Her upset always came with a side of ‘smash my fist into your nose’—a habit Charles was having a hard time breaking her out of.

“I beg your pardon?”

“My dad is a coward,” she repeated stubbornly.

“Erm. Why is that?”

“He wants to ask you something, but he’s afraid.”

Charles felt his eyebrows go up. “Why would he be afraid to ask me something? He’s never been afraid before.”

Charles was not naïve enough not to know that aggression was almost always a telltale sign of some deep-seated fear. Logan, by the looks of him, had had a fair share of that. Still, it was doubtful Charles could pose any kind of threat to him.

“Well, he’s being a coward now.” Laura stomped her foot, scowling. “I promised him I won’t tell, but—”

“Then you shouldn’t,” Charles interrupted. “You know you must always keep your word, Laura.”

“I know. But—that’s not really telling if I don’t name names, right? He never told me I couldn’t say _anything_ , and you said to always listen, and—”

This was his fault, Charles realized abruptly. He’d turn the most straightforward kid he’d ever met into a sophist.

“Laura—”

“He likes someone, all right? Like— _like_ likes them. And he’s afraid to tell you, and that’s stupid!”

Charles was grateful he was sitting. That it was on the carpet was an unexpected bonus.

“Oh,” he said slowly, an odd ringing sound in his ears. As Laura was still glaring at him, he tried to collect his wits. “Well, um. Your father shouldn’t be afraid to tell me something like that. If he… if he met someone, that’s wonderful. I’m very—very happy for him.” His voice broke in a way that made him hate himself, but hopefully Laura wouldn’t notice.

If anything, his reply seemed to make her angrier. “He didn’t meet anyone!” she screamed in utter exasperation, confusing Charles further. “Why are you both so stupid?”

“Laura.” Charles straightened up, his tone turning stern. “There’s no need for name calling. Ever.”

She caught the look on his face and instantly turned contrite. “I know, I’m sorry, Charles! I’m sorry! It’s just—”

“Laura.”

Both Charles and Laura jumped. Logan was standing in the doorway, his expression unreadable beyond his usual scowl. Charles felt his heart jolt in his chest. Laura went still as a statue.

“Yes, Dad?”

“You just talked yourself out of having a pizza night for two weeks.”

“What?” she yelled. “But! I was only trying to help! That’s so unfair!”

Logan’s scowl deepened, and Charles knew that expression well. “Laura,” he said quickly, “why don’t you go ask Mrs. Jenkins if she needs anything?”

Mrs. Jenkins was Charles's next-door neighbor, an elderly lady, whom Charles and Laura helped tidy up her place every once in a while.

“But—”

“Go,” Logan growled. “Or it’ll be three weeks.”

“Fine!” Laura bristled. “But you’re still a coward!”

She slammed the door shut after her. Charles waited for the familiar sound of Mrs. Jenkins TV turned on too high and the somewhat shrill sound of her voice—as most people who were hard on hearing, she tended to speak too loudly. Laura’s replies came sullen, but polite enough. She hated doing her own chores, but just like Charles enjoyed doing them for other people.

Charles looked up to find Logan watching him.

“You’re early,” Charles said just to say something, his throat suddenly dry.

Logan shrugged, the movement torturously crafted. “Got my thing done faster than I thought. Look, Charles—”

“You don’t have to tell me anything,” Charles said quickly. “That is to say, you _can_ tell me anything, you know that. But I understand if you’re not ready yet, if it’s all new. You don’t have to tell me, obviously. Though… though I’m happy if Laura’s right. You’ve been alone for so long. If you met someone, it’s wonderful.”

“Is it?” Logan stepped further into the room. 

It was never a big room. Charles's entire apartment could fit into his childhood bedroom at the family mansion and still have space to spare. Three steps in took Logan close enough to him that Charles could sense the scent of machine oil and aftershave, a familiar combination that had been driving him up the wall lately.

“Is it really wonderful? You really think so?”

Charles forced himself to look up to meet his eyes. “Yes,” he lied and hated how obvious it sounded.

A tiny smirk was beginning to form in the corner of Logan’s mouth. “You look real happy for me, Chuck, I gotta tell you.”

“Don’t.” Charles shook his head, an abortive gesture. “You know I hate it when you call me that.”

“And I hate it when you lie to me.” Logan stepped closer still. “You don’t lie well. You never lied well.”

“Why would I lie?” Charles lifted his chin up stubbornly. “I want you to be happy. Laura—”

“Laura has a big mouth.” Logan’s lips twisted. “Damn brat. I had it all planned, you know. I cleaned up my place. I bought a nice shirt. I read that damn incomprehensible philosophy book you’ve been nagging me to read. I was going to cook steaks. Have them in my freezer as we speak. Had them fresh a week ago, but I chickened out. Had to get new ones. But those won’t keep, either, if I don’t move things along, and—”

“Logan,” Charles cut in, confused. “What—”

“Oh, and I bought that smelly wine you’re always raving about. Smells like horse piss, if you ask me, but there’s no accounting for taste—”

“Why? Why would you do all that? Are they so hard to impress?”

Logan’s eyes softened, as he laid his hands on Charles's shoulders. “I don’t know, to tell you the truth. I don’t know what the hell I’m even thinking. He’s the best thing that ever happened to me, except for Laura. And I’m so afraid to screw it up. For her, too.”

“You won’t,” Charles promised, having no idea what he was even talking about. He only knew he had to sooth Logan’s distress somehow. “You’re marvelous. Anyone would be—”

“He’s not anyone,” Logan said, darkly amused, and Charles could see his fear clearly now, coming from underneath the gruff exterior. “He’s so damn smart, I can’t wrap my head around it. The way he talks sometimes, I swear I could listen by the hour, but I keep thinking ‘What the hell am I even doing here?’ He’s too smart to be in the same room. But he’s not mean about it. I’ve been called slow my entire life, but he’s never like that. He’s so fucking kind, I could kill him sometimes, because it always gets him in trouble. He takes care of my kid. Takes care of me, even if he doesn’t know it.”

He leaned in closer, making Charles draw in a shaky breath.

“And he’s mad pretty,” Logan whispered, smirking. “Been driving me crazy this entire time. I swear I thought my dick would fall off; haven’t jerked off so much since I was a damn kid myself.”

“Logan!” Charles jolted, flustered, but Logan’s hold only tightened.

“One word, Charles. One word, and I’ll forget this conversation ever happened. See, this is why I didn’t want to talk to you, I always say things that make you wince, even if you’re nice about it! I’m not blind, I know what I am and what you are, and—”

Logan’s hands were holding him captive, but only against retreating. They jerked uselessly when Charles surged forward, pressing his lips against Logan’s stubborn mouth, stopping him mid-word.

Logan blinked. Shut up. Blinked again. Then a low growl came from deep inside his chest, and the next thing Charles knew he was slammed against the wall, and Logan was kissing him as if the world was ending. Charles groaned into the kiss, hands reaching up to finally run his fingers through that thick hair, tugging, pulling, holding close. He could not believe it was really happening, but Logan’s body was pressed against his, hard, and tough, with not a smidgen of yield anywhere, completely, wonderfully undeniable.

“I’m not hurting you, am I?” Logan asked suddenly, pulling back just far enough to look Charles in the eye. “You really want this? You can say no. I won’t get mad.”

Charles shook his head, grinning like an idiot. “I don’t want to say no. Have you any idea how long I wanted this?”

Logan stared at him in joy and disbelief, and Charles laughed a little at the mirror image of his own emotions, before pulling Logan back in. He couldn’t stand not kissing him now that he was allowed. Logan’s knee was pressing persistently between his own, and Charles moaned as he moved to let him in closer. The sensation of all that strength and power against him was driving him crazy with want.

“I think,” he gasped as Logan closed his teeth over the pulse point on his neck, “I think… I owe your daughter… a pizza.”

He could feel Logan’s grin against his skin, feeling drunk on the sensation.

“I might as well,” Logan conceded. “Damn brat.”

Charles laughed and kissed him again, putting what little time they had to good use. Laura would be back any minute. She would become unbearable now, he thought absently, high on Logan. Unbearable, smug, a right terror. 

He wouldn’t change it for the world.

~

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [[授权翻译] Life, As It Happens](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23149714) by [wuyanzhinv](https://archiveofourown.org/users/wuyanzhinv/pseuds/wuyanzhinv)




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